Trevor
the 'magical force' I am thinking of is language itself, in it is its
collectivity, which is in itself an expression of our societies, that
something has gone awry in the balance, as if the distorted individualism of
the West has produced a monstrous child of a new authoritarianism that
inveigled its way in false clothes into the fabric of language. Poetry, in
the sense I am using the word, certainly is magical, it performs the
alchemists dream of transformation, metaphor turns this into that. Poetry
inhabits the very core or power-stems of speech and, as such, despite its
seeming marginality, it is understood to be a source of power by those who
pursue that object, recall the close political attention that Downing Street
paid the appointment of the current laureate. When the material of poetry,
language itself, is being so corrupted, the writing of poetry becomes an act
that has to be well-considered, recall the Gruppe 47 in post-Nazi Germany.
It's often claimed that the centre of our culture has shifted from the
written to the audio-visual, but at the centre remains the written, the Law,
that ultimate black art of codified speech that can deprive people of their
homes, livelihoods or liberty by the flourish of a pen underling the
pronouncement of Words. I think Anny has taken my post to be about people on
lists, no, no and no, I am thinking of the totality of the speech world in
which I live.
Best
Dave
David Bircumshaw
Spectare's Web, A Chide's Alphabet
& Painting Without Numbers
http://www.chidesalphabet.org.uk
----- Original Message -----
From: "Trevor Joyce" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Thursday, March 18, 2004 8:16 AM
Subject: Re: Great Works website
David,
How would you distinguish this analysis from supertitious paranoid
self-pity? The notion that one's writing poetry is 'unloosing forces'
in the world strikes me as having all the hallmarks of it. Either
that or you imagine poetry to be more effective in the world than I
recognize generally to be the case.
T
>Malign forces indeed, Peter! I'm not sure what is happening of late, since
>theYear's Turning something seems to have gone terribly, terribly wrong
>somehow somewhere, not that there weren't things wrong before for sure, but
>I get this continual impression that people are unloosing forces that they
>do not comprehend, like, as it were, people casting spells they don't
>understand. That magical simile applies to the very practicalities of our
>lives, the attractions of power, in all walks of life, are overriding
common
>humanity. My own take on all this, in respect of writing poetry, is to
>retire from doing so for the time being, I don't know what it is I'm
dealing
>with, and it seems to be coming from all sides, and the worst thing one can
>do in such a situation is to attract attention to oneself. I see areas of
>discourse that were previously untouched being destabilised by I don't know
>what, I see status games everywhere, lies, lies and lies emitting from the
>public mouth. Keep your head down, my voice says to me. I do plan a book of
>previously written work for next month but no new writings will issue from
>me till, till, till ....
>
>I also plan on going on a retreat at a monastery at the month's end, just
>for its metaphors of the sacred space.
>
>Best
>
>Dave
>
>
>David Bircumshaw
>
>Spectare's Web, A Chide's Alphabet
>& Painting Without Numbers
>
>http://www.chidesalphabet.org.uk
>
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Peter Philpott" <[log in to unmask]>
>To: <[log in to unmask]>
>Sent: Wednesday, March 17, 2004 6:55 PM
>Subject: Re: Great Works website
>
>
>Dear Patrick & all
>
>Alarmed that the same malign forces that have been operating around
>David's site were now unleashed against Great Works, I have just
>checked, and I got through to "In the Present Historic"
>unproblematically. It's not singled out on the homepage, but I have just
>reached it through both the Quick Index and the Archive pages.
>
>Let me know b/c if you still have problems - these here computer things
>are trixy beasts, and odd things can definitely happen to your website
>when you don't expect it. (I'll try accessing it from a variety of
>machines at work tomorrow also.)
>
>Can I use this to put in a reminder to BritPo listmembers that the next
>instalment of Richard Makin's "Work in Process" will be on the site on
>the 30th of the month (and thence at monthly intervals).
>
>best wishes
>
>Peter Philpott
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